8. Sleepy Hollow
Sleepy Hollow is one of my favorite Halloween stories. The Tim Burton version is by far my favorite adaptation. Sure it took many creative licenses, but Burton captured that creepy East Coast All Hallows Eve vibe like none I've ever seen. He also did what he's since decided to forgo, most of the film was done in practicals. That forest where most of the film takes place? They built that forest. Because of how excellent the production design is, the film feels real, scary, and thrillingly exciting. This was the Burton, Depp, Elfman trifecta at the height of their game. All that being said, it's about time we had a new interpretation of the story. If the focus is put on suspense rather than gore, this becomes one unique idea. The Headless Horseman has always been one of the coolest Horror villains of all time. He's...a headless horseman. That's pretty scary by it's own nature. But if he's transformed into another angry spirit who hacks people up in gory, merciless ways, he just becomes another trite cliche. Burton walked a fine line with stylized violence, but done in such a way that it wasn't over the top and was, most of the time, comical. A very serious interpretation of the story could be used in such a way as the original short story by Washington Irving, as social commentary and satire. The loser school teacher who treats his students like garbage is tortured by the sinister Horseman. There's important themes in there somewhere. And much of it could apply to issues we're dealing with today. Failing school systems, corrupt fat cat politicians, a town being slowly destroyed by economic decline, what sort of myths revolve around the Horseman being responsible for those things, what sort of superstition are we willing to believe today? I'm not necessarily saying that we modernize Sleepy Hollow (as a majority of it's importance comes from it being a period piece), but there is plenty of room in there for Filmmakers to tip their hats toward the future. The Headless Horseman then becomes more than a man haunting the late 18th Century, he becomes a specter of cruel and horrific justice that will live on indefinitely. There would be absolutely nothing anyone could do to escape his wrath as there would be no stopping him in the past or the future.